Ken Borland

Keegan Petersen says there have been nerves and excitement, gratitude and a sense of privilege, but no frustration during his lengthy time in the Proteas squad without actually playing in a match, which looks set to come to an end in the Caribbean.

South Africa take on the West Indies in the first Test from June 10 and there is a vacancy in the batting line-up with Faf du Plessis having retired. And new captain Dean Elgar only mentioned Petersen when he was asked last weekend about who was in the mix to replace the former captain.

“It’s been a while being in the squad, but it doesn’t feel like a long time because it is always so nice coming into this environment. It’s a higher level of professionalism and it’s a privilege to be here. So it hasn’t required much patience, I’m just grateful to be here and there hasn’t been any frustration. But I have been nervous for a while and I get goosebumps just thinking about making my debut.

“I know I’ll have big boots to fill and when your dream becomes a reality, it gives your system a bit of a shock. I don’t know how selection is going to go, but I am extremely excited to represent my country and it would mean the world to my family. We are very close and tight-knit, and my pride is their pride and my tears are their tears. This is what I dreamed of as a kid,” Petersen said.

The 27-year-old had to leave his family in Paarl to make those cricketing dreams come true, and he said he was pleased the winding road of his career had brought him to Durban and playing for the champion Dolphins side.

“It’s been an up-and-down journey from Paarl to Bloemfontein to Durban. So I’ve gone from coast to coast, it’s been a long journey. I’ve been in the first-class system for almost 10 years, so I’ve been around. So it would mean a lot to get a go on this tour because I know the journey has been tough and long, this is what I’ve worked for, why I play cricket.

“I like to think I’ve built a reputation over the last couple of years in domestic cricket and I’ve learnt a lot since joining the Dolphins, it has expanded my game in testing conditions in Durban. Kingsmead has prepared me for any slow or turning pitch because that’s all we get there to be honest. It’s a spinning wicket and I know I’ll be prepared for whatever I get in the Caribbean,” Petersen said.

Cricket South Africa acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki declared his delight on Monday night as fast bowlers Anrich Nortje and Shabnim Ismail were named as CSA’s men’s and women’s players of the year.

Ismail won the award for a second time, following her triumph in 2015, and joins Marizanne Kapp (twice) and Dane van Niekerk (three times) as the only multiple winners of the main women’s award.

Nortje claimed the Player of the Year honours just a season after being named Newcomer of the Year, the first player to achieve this feat.

“Genuine fast bowling remains one of the great and thrilling sights of our game and we are indeed blessed to continue to produce world leaders in this demanding skill. Anrich and Shabnim have set the highest standards that we expect from our icon Proteas players.

“Anrich’s international career to date has been remarkable. In the space of a year he has gone from being named our International Newcomer of the Year to our overall Player of the Year – an incredible achievement. The pandemic has restricted him to just 10 Test matches to date in which he has taken 39 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls, and his strike rate of 48.50 is comfortably within the world’s leading bowlers.

“Shabnim is the fastest bowler on the women’s international circuit, and she has been the leader of our Proteas attack for a long time now. She is the only South African to have taken 100 wickets in the T20 International format and she recently passed the significant landmark of 150 wickets in ODI cricket. She has played a huge role in enabling our Proteas to break into the top group of countries,” Moseki said in a statement released after the virtual awards were announced on social media.

Nortje was also voted Test Cricketer of the Year, SA Fans’ Player of the Year and shared the Players’ Player of the Year honour with Aiden Markram, while another pace bowler, Wiaan Mulder, was given the Delivery of the Year award for his dismissal of Kusal Mendis, caught by Rassie van der Dussen (who was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year), in the second Test against Sri Lanka.

Ismail also enjoyed a feast of awards, claiming the T20 Cricketer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year prizes.

Lizelle Lee (ODI Cricketer of the Year) and Tabraiz Shamsi (T20 Player of the Year) were also the cream of the crop in the white-ball formats after seasons filled with runs and wickets respectively.

Adrian Holdstock was once again the Umpire of the Year.

The domestic awards were asymmetrically lopsided in favour of the Dolphins, who claimed five of the eight honours with Keshav Maharaj named both Most Valuable Player and Players’ Player of the Year.

Award winners

SA Men’s Cricketer of the Year:                                                        Anrich Nortje

SA Women’s Cricketer of the Year:                                                Shabnim Ismail

Test Cricketer of the Year:                                                                 Anrich Nortje

One-Day International Cricketer of the Year:                  Rassie van der Dussen

T20 International Cricketer of the Year:                                       Tabraiz Shamsi

Momentum Proteas One-Day International Cricketer of the Year:  Lizelle Lee

Proteas T20 International Cricketer of the Year:                        Shabnim Ismail

SA Men Players’ Player of the Year:                Aiden Markram & Anrich Nortje

SA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year:                                      Shabnim Ismail

SA Fans’ Player of the Year:                                                              Anrich Nortje

KFC Streetwise Award:                           Lizelle Lee        (innings of 132 v India)

CSA Delivery of the Year: Wiaan Mulder (v Kusal Mendis, SA v SL, 2^nd Test)

International Newcomer of the Year:                                               George Linde

Women’s International Newcomer of the Year:                              Black Day kit

The Proteas are off to the Caribbean on Monday and, having gathered on Friday, new captain Dean Elgar has spent the weekend almost trying to market his new leadership style to an expanded squad of 19 players.

Elgar is one of the characters of the changeroom, and is often considered a joker, but he has shown he has strong leadership credentials at the Titans and certainly commands the respect of the players. But a new era begins next week, post the captaincy tenures of Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, and Elgar has been making sure everyone is on the same page as to the way things are going to be done now.

“We had a great chat on our first night together, when I mapped out how I see things going forward and we had a conversation around that. It was very constructive and those conversations will be ongoing over the next few weeks. I want to try and change the mindsets going forward, it’s a challenge with 18 different individuals who all have different opinions.

“So I’m trying to get buy-in, get the guys to trust the process. Hopefully some of what I’ve done in the past can rub off on the players, they need to know they can rely on me and follow me. We haven’t played much Test cricket lately, so it’s been difficult to get a process going that would make us competitive. I had a lot of quality conversations with Graeme Smith through the years and I would be letting the team down if I didn’t use that,” Elgar said at the weekend.

The 33-year-old Elgar said he would be leaning on other players who have been part of the Test squad for more than five years like Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada, because their experience will be vital for a rebuilding side.

“Those players are so valuable and there is a great demand for them around the world of cricket, you can’t replicate their knowledge. There’s not a lot of experience floating around at the moment, so their presence is massive for the environment. It was a totally different era when I started playing Test cricket under Graeme Smith, we had a lot more caps around then.

“But I would like to try and use my learnings from back then, use the knowledge I gained. That time moulded me and taught me a lot of good lessons, so I would like to bring that into this side. We need to get back to scoring big hundreds, bowlers taking five-fors and taking 20 wickets to win a Test. There used to be that rich culture of success and with extended squads now we have all the options we need,” Elgar said.

Playing cricket is extremely dear to pace bowler Lizaad Williams but the 27-year-old admitted on Thursday that he was probably only going to play for another couple of years when he began last season by moving from the Cape Cobras to the Titans.

And now, with the Titans Player of the Year and three other major awards to his name, he is preparing for his first tour with the Proteas as they head off to the West Indies next week. The way Williams has gone from journeyman professional to international cricketer was one of the best stories of the troubled 2020/21 summer.

“I didn’t expect anything when I moved to the Titans, I just wanted the opportunity to play more and I knew a new environment would push me to be better. I’m very thankful to the game and I appreciate it, I’m grateful just to play any game of cricket, even club cricket. But when I came to Centurion, I was in the mental space that I would probably play for just two more years.

“But I did not lose my passion and I wanted to see if I could fulfil my potential, so I gave it my all and things happened way quicker than I imagined, which just shows God is in control and he knows when the right time is. Playing for the Proteas fulfils my lifelong dream, although it was emotional because I wanted my mother to be there on my debut but she passed away in 2019,” Williams told The Citizen on Thursday.

Having left his younger brother in Vredenburg he has quickly become an integral part of a band of brothers at the Titans, winning the Players’ Player of the Year award on Wednesday night as well. And now his travels will take him far across the seas to the Caribbean, where he will be a member of both the Test and T20 squads.

“I know the pitches over there are usually slow and low, but coming from the coast, growing up around Paarl, I’m used to similar conditions. I know on the Highveld you get more reward for fast bowling with nicks to the slips, but it’s almost easier for me on the coast. Your dismissals there are more lbws, caught in the covers or midwicket, it’s hard graft.

“But the beauty of the game is you never know what you’re going to get and South Africa probably has the most differing conditions between all the venues you’ll find anywhere in the world. If you’re playing for the Proteas, if you want to compete with the best, then you have to be able to adapt to any conditions. I train with that mindset – using the new ball, an old ball, a ball that reverses. You can’t just rely on bounce always,” Williams said.